Report: Workers Not Cashing in on Manufacturing Jobs

Employees work on the line at the IceStone LLC manufacturing facility in Brooklyn in May.

Bloomberg News

Manufacturing jobs have been heralded by Mayor Bill de Blasio and others as high-paying alternatives to the retail and hospitality jobs that dominate the city’s job growth. It turns out that may not be true.

Industrial jobs in the city actually pay about the same–on average $20.56 an hour–as other jobs that don’t require a college education and pay on average $21.30 an hour, according to a new report by the city’s Independent Budget Office.

The survey excluded construction jobs, which have high wages and represent a large portion of jobs in the industrial sector in data that is often cited.

Food manufacturing is the fastest growing type of manufacturing business, with employment jumping 7.8% from 2008 to 2012 to nearly 15,400 jobs. The sector employed nearly twice as many Hispanic workers as the private sector as whole–41% versus 24%. Wages for workers without a college degree were $16.73, below the private-sector average.

The perception that manufacturing provides higher pay harkens to an earlier era when many of those jobs were unionized, said Doug Turetsky, the budget office’s chief of staff.

Still, wages aren’t the only reason for the city to push for more factory and warehousing jobs. They also offer an alternative for workers without a college education who may not be well-suited serving the city’s growing tourism industry, which employs many low-skilled workers.

“You still want a diversity of jobs because you have a diversity of residents. If you don’t have a higher education that doesn’t mean you’re inclined to wait tables or work retail,” Mr. Turetsky said.